Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Mar. 10 -- Chevron Corp. and its partners have approved construction of the Platong Gas II natural gas project in the Gulf of Thailand at a cost of some $3.1 billion with startup scheduled for first quarter 2011.
The Platong Gas II development, which lies in shallow water 200 km offshore, is designed to add 420 MMcfd of gas processing capacity. The project feeds the growing demand for gas in the domestic market.
In December Chevron signed an agreement with the Ministry of Energy of Thailand to increase its contract quantity of gas by 500 MMcfd to 1.2 bcfd by 2012 from company-operated offshore Blocks 10, 11, 12, and 13.
Platong Gas II is expected to be the major source of this increase in production. In October 2007, the company received 10-year lease extensions until 2022 for Blocks 10 through 13. Chevron has ownership interests in these blocks ranging from 60-80%.
Chevron is operator of Platong II and holds a 69.8% participating interest with Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. Ltd. 27.4%, and PTT Exploration & Production PCL 2.8%.
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].